Lzzy Hale on Her New Epiphone Explorer Custom Signature Guitar and Finding Your True Self

In this exclusive conversation, Halestorm's Lzzy Hale joins Guitar Center Senior Director of Artist Relations Dave Kushner to discuss her new Epiphone Lzzy Hale Signature Explorer Custom, as well as becoming Gibson's first female global brand ambassador, songwriting, live performance and why the greatest success isn't simply building a career—it's inspiring the next generation to pick up a guitar.

Discovering Her First Explorer

Before recording the first Halestorm album, Hale responded to an ad when someone was selling an Explorer.

"I put it on and I just loved it for some reason—the weight of it, the feel of it. It just felt like it was a part of me," recalls Hale. "I love my Les Pauls, but once I put on the Explorer, it felt like, 'Okay, this is my guitar.'"

One Inflexible Design Element

"The finish was non-negotiable,” says Hale about her signature Explorer’s Black Diamond Holographic Sparkle. “There's the 'wow' factor that happens when you walk out on stage with something like this. "Also, I'm a girl, so I like to change my guitars like I change my shoes. It's part of the show. Beyond that, I wanted a workhorse guitar—something that we could throw anywhere in the set."

Finding Your Authentic Self on Stage

"We don't play to a click when we play live,” asserts Hale, “and there are no [backing] tracks. It's all us. You have to find a situation that lets you be your truest self no matter what's going on when you’re on stage. I've always subscribed to the simpler, the better. I like getting most of my tone from the amp and the guitar.”

Creating in the Moment

Hale also shares how producer Dave Cobb challenged Halestorm's creative process while the band was recording Everest.

“On every other record we've done, we’d write 60 songs and narrow it down to like 15 or so,” says Hale. We’d walk into the studio with our bag of tricks and riffs for days. But Dave looked at us and was like, ‘Oh, no, we're not doing any of that. I don't want to hear anything you did yesterday. We're going to start in the moment. We’d get up every day and it was like, ‘Okay, who has an idea?’ We’d write from scratch, and while we're writing a song, we'd be recording it in real-time. The beautiful thing about that is you're getting these moments. When you're put in an uncomfortable situation—that's when the magic shows up. The annoying part is afterward, when you're trying to remember what you actually played.”

Passing the Torch

"The greatest gift that has come from being an ambassador for Gibson is getting to be someone that young girls and young boys are able to see themselves reflected in. I remember what it was like growing up and learning how to play guitar and kind of looking everywhere for someone who looked like me. I had to reach back to my parents’ generation—Joan Jett, Lita Ford, Nancy Wilson and so on—before the light bulb went off. ‘Oh wait, girls can do this, too.’ It just gives you a little bit of confirmation that you're doing the right thing. So, I want someone to pick up this guitar and feel like they're a superhero. When you give to music, it gives back. Go out there, do it, inspire other people and pass that torch behind you to whoever is coming next.”